Aloe Vera

Aloe vera ... a powerful plant with many uses and health benefits.  The gel and the juice of this super plant contain potent healing potential. 

Aloe is famous for its use in wound and burn healing and in skin care and skin rejuvenation.   And that's just the beginning of what this super plant can do!

You are probably already familiar with this herb. Your mom may have put aloe gel on your sun burn when you were a child. She might have even put it on a rash you had.

So what makes aloe vera such a powerful healer?  A substance called allantoin.   Allantoin stimulates and speeds up the growth of new tissues. This is one of the reasons aloe is so good at healing burns.

What else can we learn about this amazing plant?

1. Diabetes

A super home remedy for those with diabetes.  Aloe vera's positive benefits for those with diabetes includes:

• Mitigates Damage caused by High Blood Sugar -- exhibits potent antioxidant activity. Blood sugar imbalances create significant oxidative stress damage to body tissues. This is why any agent that can help mitigate oxidative damage is so important to someone with diabetes.

• Lowers Blood Sugar in Type 2 and Type 1 Diabetics -- Studies done with diabetic rats have shown it can lower blood sugar in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. These studies used an extract of aloe that included the leaf and pulp.

• Lowers Triglycerides -- Triglyceride levels ... a type of cholesterol that makes your blood sticky and fatty ... are often high in diabetics. A study done on type 2 diabetics showed that, in additon to lowering blood glucose levels, this power plant also lowers triglyceride levels.

2. Wound Healing

Aloe vera has been tested on many types of wounds.....wounds caused by burning, frost bite, electrical injury, and injury caused by drug addicts injection sites .... and it was able to speed healing in each case.

Of course most of us experienced the power of this super plant in our childhood when we would swim too long during the summer.  And who would always come to the rescue for our sunburns?

Aloe also prevents tissue loss in injuries. And ... amazingly ... aloe reverses tissue necrosis (which means tissue death).  Very impressive! 

This super plant should definitely be in every emergency kit.  But be sure you get the real thing.  Many commercial products contain very little aloe and a whole lot of chemical additives. 

3. Age-Related Problems

The human race has been looking for the fountain of youth as long as we have existed. Whether or not someone has found it by now is left to your imagination.

There is evidence that this super plant can help us slow age related problems ... at least it did in a group of rats. And consuming aloe vera over the rats' life spans showed no harmful effects.

The rats fed aloe showed a decreased risk of developing kidney damage and failure.  The aloe-fed rats also had a lower risk of developing a blood clot in their cardiac atriums. So these findings are definitely hopeful.

And remember good health and a youthful body is the sum total of all the healthy lifestyle measures you adopt. 

4. Psoriasis

There have been several studies to see if aloe vera gel can alleviate psoriasis. So far the studies show that this super plant may be of benefit to psoriasis.

Psoriasis is also considered an autoimmune disease, so if you have it you will have a lot more work to do than just apply some gel to your skin. But the good news is aloe may help alleviate psoriasis. and it has no side effects to speak of.

5. Acid Reflux

Aloe soothes and heals tissues inside your body just like it does on tissues outside of your body.  This makes it a great home remedy for acid reflux.

Aloe can be taken when symptoms arise, before symptoms arise, or just before you eat.

Two tablespoons of the gel 3 times a day is a good place to start.

6. Colitis-induced Colon Cancer

Colitis is a very unfortunate and horrible disease. It is characterized by inflammation inside the colon. This in turn can cause terrible effects not the least of which is colon cancer.

Always remember long term inflammation is a precursor to disease. This is why you want to decrease inflammation with diet, supplements, exercise, and herbs.

A study done on rats with colitis induced colon cancer found that the rats eating aloe vera were much less likely to develop colon cancer.

One of the reasons aloe worked here is because it has anti-inflammatory properties, especially in the colon. Aloe also has tumor suppressing activity in the colon.

I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to see why some refer to this super plant as ‘The Wand of Heaven.

7. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Inflammation in your intestines can make your life really sucky for a while.

But now a new scientific study has shown what good herbalists have known for years....

Aloe vera reduces inflammation in the colons of IBS sufferers.

And best yet it does it with no obvious side effects!

8. Gingivitis

Gingivitis is a form of gum disease that inflames the gums.

A study with gingivitis sufferers showed an improvement in inflammation of the gums if they swished with an aloe vera mouthwash twice a day for three months.

Yet again this super plant proves its worth in inflammatory conditions.

9. Depression, Learning, & Memory

We have all experienced depression at some point in our lives. And who hasn’t had moments of forgetfulness?

In looking for solutions to these problems, aloe was studied to see if it could help these common ailments.

Rats were used in the study. The rats receiving aloe vera experienced a reduction in depression, and improved memory and learning.

According to this study it seems that aloe vera may help you in the brain department. One thing is for sure, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

10. Liver Protection

Aloe vera has been used by herbalists for many years as a liver supporting herb. Researchers wanted to put it to the test with alcoholic rats.

There were three groups of rats. One group was clean and sober and only drank distilled water. The second group were drunks that only consumed alcohol and didn’t have a care in the world. Now the third group were drunks too, but they wanted to mitigate the damage of their bad habits.

So the third group not only drank their alcohol, but they chased it with an aloe vera extract. What do you think happened?

Well the second group of pure alcoholics started to suffer liver damage. But the aloe-sipping alcoholics were protected from liver damage by their alcoholic ways.

Now I hope this study doesn’t give you any ideas if you have a habit. Besides you know what happened to the water only group? Perfect liver health.

12. Skin Moisturizer

Aloe vera has many healing properties for the skin. But what about as a face moisturizer? Aloe vera gel does have moisterizing properties, and you can use the gel as you would any other moisturizer.

Aloe does have some astringent properties, so your skin might feel a little tighter after application.

You can also mix your aloe gel with a little jojoba oil, coconut oil, or almond oil. Put the aloe and oil in a small jar together and shake vigorously to combine.

13. Wrinkles

Aloe vera can help prevent wrinkles, and it can reduce the wrinkles that you already have. A study conducted to determine if aloe could reduce the signs of aging skin found that not only does aloe taken internally reduce wrinkles, but it also increases collagen production and decreases collagen-degrading gene expression!!

The participants took ¼ tsp of aloe gel per day. You can also rub the gel on your skin so you can use the herb internally and externally.

14. Acne

Aloe gel can work nicely on your pimples too! Aloe has anti-bacterial properties that help rid you of some of the bacteria that is responsible for your acne. Aloe also helps treat the redness that can come with acne and other skin problems.

15. Dandruff

Aloe vera gel can be used to treat and prevent dandruff. Aloe has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties that prevent the environmental conditions that allow dandruff to proliferate.

To use aloe for dandruff, use the gel from the leaf or an organic aloe gel that contains at least 99% aloe with no chemicals, simply rub the aloe gel into your scalp and wrap a towel around your head. Keep it on 15 to 30 minutes then wash your hair with a natural shampoo.

16. Hair Conditioning

Aloe vera gel can work as a hair conditioner. Use 2 tbsp of the aloe vera gel and lather into your hair as you would any other hair conditioner. Let the aloe sit in the hair for a while, as you would do with other hair conditioners, and then rinse.

17. Skin Repair

Aloe vera is known to increase and speed up collagen production. This is why it helps your skin repair itself.  Aloe also helps your ligaments, muscles, and joints repair, because they are made of collagen too.

18. Radiation Recovery

Radiation treatments for cancer are a very invasive and damaging procedure that has potential to damage the skin and organs. Researchers have been looking for ways to mitigate some of the damage caused by radiation therapy.

Aloe vera was studied to see if it could prevent radiation-induced dermatitis. The study had 60 patients, with varying forms of cancer, with breast cancer the most prominent.

Patients were given a lotion of aloe vera to use on one half of the irradiated area, while nothing was applied to the other half of the irradiated area. The conclusion was that aloe vera minimizes the radiation induced dermatitis.  Another study found aloe gel to benefit patients with radiation proctitis.

19. Antiseptic

Aloe gel can be used as a disinfectant for various wounds. Aloe vera is anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal.  Aloe contains many infection-fighting compounds, such as lupeol, cinnamic acid, phenol, sulphur and salicylic acid.  You can fight infection by using aloe both internally and externally.

20. Anti-viral Against Cold Sores and Genital Warts

Aloe vera has long been known for its antiviral properties. There have been a few studies on particular viruses that aloe has efficacy against. The first we will look at is herpes simplex 1 virus. A study found aloe gel to have a significant inhibitory effect on HSV-1 in a Vero cell line.

So what do you have to lose trying aloe gel on cold sores? Nothing. But you may gain softer and sexier lips!

Aloe also works for herpes simplex 2 as well.  Genital warts are not so fun,especially if you have them from time to time. Genital warts are caused by the HPV virus, and aloe gel could help ward off this virus too.  Simply coat the warts with aloe gel twice per day. Give it a few weeks and see what happens.

Aloe vera stimulates the immune response to viruses, so it would make sense to use it any time a viral infection takes hold.

21. Anti-Inflammatory

Aloe vera possesses anti-inflammatory properties. It can be used for inflammatory conditions like inflammatory bowel diseases. Aloe vera can also help inflammation throughout the body, whether it is caused by a muscle injury or infection.

Aloe contains a chemical called Campesterol, which is known to lower cholesterol and decrease inflammation. Aloe also has the ability to speed up healing by generating new cells more quickly for healing, and this also reduced inflammation.

22. Colic

Aloe vera juice can sooth the irritation of colic in babies. Simply add a little aloe juice to your baby's bottle. A good brand is Lily of the Desert. A tsp a day should be enough.

23. Improve Digestion

Aloe vera improves digestion by several facors:

• Reduces inflammation in the digestive tract, which soothes and relaxes the digestive tract

• Relieves constipation

• Feeds and improves good gut bacteria

• Kills bad pathogens that may be lurking in your body and gut

24. Constipation

As we learned earlier, aloe helps relieve constipation. As a matter of fact, aloe vera is approved by the German Commission E governmental regulatory agency for use in the treatment of constipation as a second-line agent.

How Do I Take Aloe Vera?

How do you use this super plant?  You can use it in many forms:

• Cut it fresh yourself (the gel is found inside the leaf)

• Powdered Capsules

• Gel Capsules

• Gel to Drink

• Gel for Skin

To learn how to harvest fresh gel, check out this short youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPQc3biwquE

Aloe Vera Home Remedies Scientific Studies

Want to delve deeper into the studies discussed on our Aloe Vera Home Remedies Page?  Here is a list of all of the studies we referenced ....

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ptr.719/full

http://www.if-pan.krakow.pl/pjp/pdf/2005/1_90.pdf

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319016409000036

http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/26059618/05_wound_healing.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1491422498&Signature=lKNLVroGavjFQ80HxfqGzzY1ZIA%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DWound_Healing_Oral_and_Topical_Activity.pdf

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ptr.1022/full

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19218914

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27366027

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22308658

https://www.thesuperfoods.net/aloe-vera/aloe-vera-and-crohns-disease

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2883372/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4452276/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763764/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3728063/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28618234

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4771053/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27797860_Antiviral_activity_of_Aloe_vera_against_herpes_simplex_virus_type_2_An_in_vitro_study

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17177657

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14987320

https://pubs.rsc.org/ru/content/articlelanding/2015/fo/c4fo00857j/unauth#!divAbstract

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92765/

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